Busted! (and my own brush with the law...)

Well, Wassenaar is very safe - but not crime free.

On Tuesday of this week, I was walking down the street on my way to drop off my recycling. There was a police car and a police van parked outside, and I saw several police officers taking photos of a car, and searching its contents. Hmmm. I was curious but went on my way and did a couple of errands. I thought perhaps they'd found a stolen car.

When I returned quite a while later, the police were still there. About half a dozen of them were sitting around the front door. Maybe a missing person?

Soon several trucks and vans appeared - one that seemed to be some kind of environmental cleanup vehicle. Now it was a bit more interesting - something was out of the norm.

A realtor was showing the house next door to some prospective renters. When the prospects left, he walked over and spoke the the officers, and when he returned he told me that they had found 'some plants' in the house. Cannabis.

It turned out that the house across the street was being used to house a hydroponic farm. There weren't actually any residents living there - but the house was being used to grow a significant quantity of marijuana.

Interesting.

Since Alex was away, he wanted me to take a few pictures. Men donned in red suits were throwing equipment out the 2nd floor windows, and others brought large items out through the garage. They put the actual plants in large, blue barrels and carried out plastic containers of chemicals.

I took some pictures from our window, but Alex suggested I get some better photos. I got close and took some photos of all the equipment they were removing from the house (light fixtures, air conditioning ducts, sheet metal, chemicals, etc.) Unfortunately, when I got close, one of the officers wasn't happy with my photojournalism - and took the camera from me and deleted several of the photos, claiming this was confidential and that I couldn't take pictures of his colleagues. Fair play, I'd probably photographed (from afar) at least one of their undercover officers.

It took the entire day for them to empty out the house and I'm sure someone is in some pretty big trouble. Although when I spoke to a couple of the locals in town they didn't seem to think this was much of anything - happens all the time. This is, after all, the Netherlands, where cannabis is 'tolerated' (still illegal, but sold openly in shops, and an individual is allowed to have small quantities for personal use and one can grow a very limited number of marijuana plants at home.)

Go Holland!

Well, Holland is decked in Orange - much more so than on Queen's Day. We took a stroll into town last night and had a beer at Oranje, our "local" (pronounced O-raan-ye). The place was decked out in orange, and before we left to come home to watch the game at the house, we were given orange t-shirts to wear and had our cheeks painted with the Dutch colors. Again, we could hear the roar of excitement for each goal against France -- all four of them.

A great game, and a great win. The game was so good that Alex claims it was one of the best football games he has ever seen, and he's seen quite a few.

Go Holland!!!

Their next game is Tuesday night against Romania (and since they already qualify for the knockout stages it doesn't matter if they win this game or not). We'll continue to follow Euro2008 with enthusiasm.

By the way, we noticed that the Dutch not only hang out a flag (either an oranje flag or a red/white/blue national flag) - and sometimes they hang a rucksack (backpack) on the end of the pole. We thought indicates that the upcoming game is an 'away' game. Nope.
What is it?
A way to demonstrate that someone in that household has finished school (the really clever ones have artfully connected and arranged papers and books spilling out of them).
Let the summer begin!

Euro 2008 - European Cup Football

As many of you 'footie' fans know, they are playing the European Cup 2008 this week. Tonight Holland play Italy. Holland hasn't beaten Italy since the 1978 World Cup - so this is an exciting event for locals here. And now for us, the new locals. (Note - the 'fan' photos above were collected and not taken by me.)

Every four years, sixteen of Europe's top national football (soccer) sides compete in the European Cup. Held exactly halfway between World Cups, the European Cup is the smaller competition, but the players and fans are intense and passionate. Rivalries between nations in Europe extend back hundreds of years. Some of these grudges are played out on the field.

The UK was knocked out of this competition this year, so their best hope is that Germany doesn't do well.

Holland is playing and since this past Friday, the local football pub has been blasting music and is decorated fully in orange. And although we so noone in Wassenaar dressed in oranje for Queen's Day, they've been decked out for the past few days in orange.

Even without the English in attendance, things are tense. Hostilities broke out between Polish and German fans in the days before this past Sunday's match, resulting in the arrest of seven German men.

Tonight during my blogging, we have had to step outside a couple of times as Holland has scored in the game against Italy (the current world champs). We can hear a roar come from Rickie's Bar in town - but all around us you can hear people shouting and whistling. Kind a fun!

Ok - now it is three to nil - will finish posting when the game is over!

Well, looks like we'll be following the rest of the competition with a little extra excitement.

Simple things

When you're living internationally, there are some very simple things that would be easy to do if you were home. I was reminded of this recently both when I had to find my way to immigration on my own to get my residency card, and also when I had a knee injury.
After my return from our US-UK trip, I had reinjured my knee and had bursitis (not serious, but very painful). Although I was pretty sure there wasn't anything terribly wrong, because it was the second time in several weeks I'd had the problem, I thought it wise to have a doctor check it.
Because I'd followed recommendations, I'd already sorted out a doctor and we'd both registered with and visited our local huisart (house doctor).
Anyway, the whole process is a bit interesting. In the first place, your huisart is located in your neighborhood. In fact, the first doctor I called was located probably two or three miles away. I was told that I had to call the LOCAL doctor - who is probably 500 yards from the house.
Your huisart has only a reasonable number of patients - and they make housecalls (although I'd have to be pretty sick not to be able to get to his office, which is really in a residential home just steps from our house).
When you visit the doctor, he or she is the one who comes to the small waiting area (and so far they've been extremely prompt) and greets you and brings you to the office. The office is also the examining room. You sit in a chair opposite the doctor first, and will be asked "what can I do for you?" And by the way, they don't do well visits or checkups - you see a doctor usually when something is wrong.
So I visited Dr. Welm who examined me and then decided that we should x-ray the knee.
X-rays (and diagostic tests) are not done on-site, and you get an order that you take to the local lab, or in my case, the hospital.
Now, when you do something like this at home - its easy! Easy here, too, but more challenging when you don't know quite where to go - and signs and instructions are all in Dutch. It is a bit intimidating and somewhat confusing.
So I made it to the hospital and found the radiology department. But they sent me back to registration and couldn't find my appointment at first. This was because when asked my name I gave my first name first -- so the appointment was under 'Leslie' instead of my surname. Also a note - the Dutch don't really queue and they will cut you off to beat you to the front of the line. I was reminded of this as a gentleman sped past me as I was about five feet from the woman at the desk in the x-ray department. I should have (would have been expected to) say to him "No, I was here first" - but I didn't.
At reception I noticed there was a numbered ticked system and pulled the tab, waited for a couple of other patients to do their own business, and was quickly and efficiently registered, and I returned to the x-ray lab.
When I was called, the attendant brought me into a closet-sized room in between the waiting area and the x-ray room. You leave your valuables in such a room, and undress if necessary. But no gowns ... I'm not terribly modest, so wasn't bothered, but this would be a shock to those of you that are a bit more shy than I.
I was x-rayed and sent home. BTW, they won't have to take the leg - the kneecap is in-tact and I'll be sent to a physiotherapist to help make the knee better.
Nothing exciting, but a learning point for me.